--- a/Core.lua	Tue Jul 17 09:59:18 2018 -0700
+++ b/Core.lua	Tue Jul 17 16:32:12 2018 -0700
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 
 Amr.ADDON_NAME = "AskMrRobot"
 
+local VAR_VERSION = 1
+
 -- types of inter-addon messages that we receive, used to parcel them out to the proper handlers
 Amr.MessageTypes = {
 	Version = "_V",
@@ -41,24 +43,26 @@
 -- initialize the database
 local function initializeDb()
 
+	local charDefaults = {			
+		FirstUse = true,           -- true if this is first time use, gets cleared after seeing the export help splash window
+		Talents = {},              -- for each spec, selected talents
+		Equipped = {},             -- for each spec, slot id to item info
+		BagItems = {},             -- list of item info for bags
+		BankItems = {},            -- list of item info for bank
+		BagItemsAndCounts = {},    -- used mainly for the shopping list
+		BankItemsAndCounts = {},   -- used mainly for the shopping list			
+		GearSets = {},             -- imported gear sets
+		ExtraEnchantData = {},     -- enchant id to enchant display information and material information
+		Logging = {                -- character logging settings
+			Enabled = false,       -- whether logging is currently on or not
+			LastZone = nil,        -- last zone the player was in
+			LastDiff = nil,        -- last difficulty for the last zone the player was in
+			LastWipe = nil         -- last time a wipe was called by this player
+		}
+	}
+
 	local defaults = {
-		char = {
-			FirstUse = true,           -- true if this is first time use, gets cleared after seeing the export help splash window
-			Talents = {},              -- for each spec, selected talents
-			Equipped = {},             -- for each spec, slot id to item info
-			BagItems = {},             -- list of item info for bags
-			BankItems = {},            -- list of item info for bank
-			BagItemsAndCounts = {},    -- used mainly for the shopping list
-			BankItemsAndCounts = {},   -- used mainly for the shopping list			
-			GearSets = {},             -- imported gear sets
-			ExtraEnchantData = {},     -- enchant id to enchant display information and material information
-			Logging = {                -- character logging settings
-				Enabled = false,       -- whether logging is currently on or not
-				LastZone = nil,        -- last zone the player was in
-				LastDiff = nil,        -- last difficulty for the last zone the player was in
-				LastWipe = nil         -- last time a wipe was called by this player
-			}
-		},
+		char = charDefaults,
 		profile = {
 			minimap = {                -- minimap hide/show and position settings
 				hide = false
@@ -88,6 +92,11 @@
 	
 	Amr.db = LibStub("AceDB-3.0"):New("AskMrRobotDb4", defaults)
 	
+	-- make sure character data is on current version
+	if not Amr.db.char.VarVersion or Amr.db.char.VarVersion ~= VAR_VERSION then
+		Amr.db.char = charDefaults
+	end
+
 	-- set defaults for auto logging; if a new zone is added and some other stuff was turned on, turn on the new zone too
 	local hasSomeLogging = false
 	local addedLogging = {}